Poppy and The Promise
by tiny-dino-hands
Summary: Hufflepuff Poppy And A Great Adventure
1. Chapter 1- A Noise at Night

There is something about snow that absorbs sound. Unless you're outside, stomping loudly through it, all you can hear is the _shhhh_ as snowflake after snowflake falls, one on top of the other. If you are underground, it is even quieter.

Poppy Vermeer lay in her bed wrapped in her thick gold blanket and let the silence try to lull her slowly to sleep. This was her favorite time of day. Lying in bed and relishing the softness of the down mattress and pillows, she would fight sleep just to feel exhaustion wash over her again. There was nothing like this in the entire world, she thought. The feeling of being wrapped in snow, earth, ancient stone, and magic; it was worth losing a minute or two of sleep to revel in the magic of warmth and comfort. The only sounds now were the other girls' breathing and occasional sighs from behind the curtains of their four-poster beds. A log popped merrily in the little squat oven in the center of their round room.

Poppy squeezed every muscle in her body tight, pulling the covers to her chin, and then relaxed. She finally let her eyes begin to drift close.

Poppy's eyes flew open almost instantly. She had heard something. She strained her ears. There it was again. It wasn't the fire, or any of her roommates. It came more quickly this time and sounded more urgent. Poppy pressed her lips together and breathed deeply through her nose as the insistent _scritch, scritch_ of nails on stone grew louder.

Was it a rat?

The sound stopped. Then came the sound of a stone softly hitting another stone, like it was being wiggled out of place.

It was not a rat, unless the rats at Hogwarts were unusually clever and strong.

Poppy bolted upright and reached for her wand on her bedside table. The noise stopped abruptly. Poppy held her wand over her heart. She wasn't even sure what she would do with it if something were to enter the room. She wouldn't learn any defensive magic until her third year. She reached over to the bedside table again without looking away from the direction of the would be intruder and felt around for her glasses. She slid them on and saw…

Nothing. How odd. She was sure she had heard _something_. She wasn't exactly sure what kind of magical creatures walked the halls of Hogwarts at night. Nothing dangerous, surely.

With nothing out of place, Poppy lay back down. Her imagination had probably just gotten the better of her. Her grandmother always told her that she had a very active imagination; but just in case, she set her glasses beside her pillow and kept her hand wrapped tightly around her wand, which she slid underneath her pillow. Now all she could hear was the _shhhh_ of snowfall and the gentle breathing of her friends. She closed her eyes and it wasn't long before her four-fold cocoon had soothed her fears and she fell asleep.

The next morning, Poppy got up and dressed, layering stockings and hand knit socks. She wrapped a long black and gold striped scarf around her neck. It was so long that it coiled around her face and hid her nose. She jammed a beanie on her head and slid her wand into her cloak pocket. She was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures if she didn't hurry. She ran to the door, already beginning to sweat under her layers. She was almost out when she realized everything was blurry. She turned and ran back to her bed, grabbing her glasses and making for the door. As she slid them on, she stopped.

There, where she thought the strange noises had come from last night was a stone pulled almost completely backward into the wall. Poppy didn't know if there was anything behind the wall, since the Hufflepuff rooms were underground. But she had heard _something_ trying to move a stone. She backed out of the room and eyed the loose stone warily. She only turned her back when she felt she was out of sight of it. She ran through the common room, up the stairs, and out into the brilliant, quiet white world.


	2. Chapter 2- The Kitchens

Authors Note: I was asked if this is a story about Madame Pomfrey as a Hogwarts student. I had completely forgotten that her first name is Poppy. The name Poppy is actually from a random Hogwarts student name generator, and her last name, Vermeer, is taken from the famous Dutch painter of the same name. Whoops! This is a next generation Potter fanfiction, and takes place roughly around the time that Harry Potter is working as an Auror (so before Cursed Child) and comes to speak to classes regularly at Hogwart and before any of his and Ginny's kids attend Hogwarts.

Poppy made it just in time for the start of Care of Magical Creatures. Professor Arora waited outside the front doors of the castle where Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students huddled in the cold. She seemed unfazed by the biting air and motioned for the students to gather around, the silver bells she wore around both wrists jingling merrily.

"Students, today we are going to meet the magical creatures that live within the castle alongside us. Albus Dumbledore believed in the equality of all sentient magical beings and employed house elves whose descendants work here to this day. He sheltered creatures who had made their homes here and lived peacefully alongside the students." Arora motioned again and a chorus of bells accompanied her. "Today, though, we will be visiting the kitchens and speaking with some of the house elves about their work and culture."

Poppy's stomach gurgled and her mouth watered; the kitchens! She had skipped breakfast. The strange noise last night had kept her awake and she slept well past 7 am. Perhaps she could grab a muffin or some sausages, anything really.

Arora turned and glided back into the castle, took a right at the grand staircase, and down the flight of steps toward the Hufflepuff common room. The Ravenclaws walked past the barrel that hid the round door into the common room without a glance. Arora stopped in front of a large painting of a fruit bowl and turned to Stephen Goldberg, a small dark haired Ravenclaw, and instructed, "Tickle the pear."

"What?" Stephen looked confused and embarrassed at being called on first.

"Tickle the pear."

Stephen reached up and light brushed the pear with one finger. It began to giggle, and suddenly the painting swung outward. The smell of food and firewood swept out of the portrait hole and over the class. On the other side, waiting expectantly, was a house elf wearing a suit made of towels and bedsheets. His little cloak was made of an old quilt. He was rather tall (for a house elf) and seemed very pleased to be asked to lead the tour of the kitchens.

"Class, this is Folly. He's one of the head house elves, and will be showing us the ropes of the kitchen." After he was introduced, Folly gave a sweeping bow like a great stage actor and straightened up with an enormous smile on his face.

"Welcome, masters and mistresses, to Hogwarts kitchen! Folly will be showing you how your food is prepared and telling you great stories of heroic house elves!" Folly dashed down the entry way into the main kitchen area and motioned for them to follow. "Mosts of the foods is made with magic, and we teleports it up to your very own plates. However, some foods is made special by hand…" Poppy stopped listening as soon as she saw the plate of scones. Her mouth began to water again, and she snuck one heavily bundled arm out from inside of her robes and slid a scone off the plate.

"Milly saw that, miss," said a squeaky voice. Poppy jumped and looked down to see an exceptionally small house elf standing by her knee, smiling mischievously. "Take more," Milly urged, grabbing more scones and, with a snap of her spindly fingers, wrapping them in a little checked cloth. "Theys still fresh. Milly makes these scones from scratch." She stuffed the little bundle into Poppy's pocket and before scurrying away said, "Now, pay attention, Folly is about to tell Milly's favorite story." With that, she disappeared behind the legs of the other students.

Poppy turned back to Folly and slowly began sneaking bites of scone as he told the story of house elf liberation.

"'Course, many house elves don't have great homes like Hogwarts to work at, oh no. Theys still in service to many old wizarding families." Folly was now standing on the long wooden table used for preparing food. "Helga Hufflepuff saw to it that house elves was always welcome to work at Hogwarts, and Hermione Granger, great witch, has been fighting to end abusive servitude! And now, a house elf has the right to complain to the Department of Magical Creatures at the Ministry for Magic!" Folly puffed up with pride and said, "Folly's cousin, Riter, works with Mrs. Granger and takes down reports for her!"

"Would you mind telling us the story of Dobby," asked Professor Arora. Folly's great green eyes misted over.

"Ah, Folly was a little elf when Master Dobby fought Voldemort," Folly said in wonder. "Dobby protected Harry Potter, the chosen one, and gave his life for him. And Harry Potter freed Dobby from his awful family. It is a beautiful story!"

As the class drew to a close, students filed out of the kitchen, each clutching bundle of specially prepared sweets. Poppy's pockets were bulging now. Professor Arora was standing to the side of the portrait hole, talking to Milly and Folly.

"Ah, Miss Vermeer! I suppose today was old news," Professor Arora said, smiling fondly. "Poppy's mother works as a liaison between the Ministry for Magic and magical creature groups' representatives. Her mother and I are colleagues in our summer trips to meet with isolated centaur herds."

"Oh, I knew a good bit, but I liked your stories!" Poppy assured Folly. He seemed so happy to share. Folly gave a little bow in gratitude. A question suddenly popped into Poppy's head. "Do house elves travel behind the walls?"

"We has tunnels, Miss," said Folly. "We travel them to our rooms and around the castle." Poppy nodded.

"So there are tunnels behind the Hufflepuff dorm walls?"

Milly frowned. "Theys all caved in, miss. We gets to your room through the common room."

"Oh," Poppy said quietly. What had tried to move that stone in the wall last night?

"Is there something wrong, Miss?" Poppy looked up and saw all three of them looking at her in concern.

"Poppy?" Professor Arora looked curious, and Poppy sensed some worry as well. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought I heard something behind the walls last night. It must have been a rat." Poppy nodded, deciding that made sense. Professor Arora nodded and smiled. That seemed good enough for her. She stepped out of the portrait hole and Poppy made to follow. A little hand on her sleeve stopped her.

"There ain't nothing in the wall, Miss Poppy," Milly said with wide eyes. Suddenly, Poppy felt less reassured and her anxiety from last night returned.

"Of course not," Poppy replied. Milly nodded, and walked away. Folly gave Poppy a long, serious look, and followed her.

Poppy stepped out of the warmth of the kitchen and into the cold corridor. She wasn't sure if it was the winter chill or unease that sent the violent shiver down her spine.


End file.
